Deriving geographic distribution of physiological or psychological conditions of human speakers while preserving personal privacy

ABSTRACT

A method including: obtaining, via a plurality of communication devices, a plurality of speech signals respectively associated with human speakers, the speech signals including verbal components and non-verbal components; identifying a plurality of geographical locations, each geographic location associated with a respective one of the plurality of the communication devices; extracting the non-verbal components from the obtained speech signals; deducing physiological or psychological conditions of the human speakers by analyzing, over a specified period, the extracted non-verbal components, using predefined relations between characteristics of the non-verbal components and physiological or psychological conditions of the human speakers; and providing a geographical distribution of the deduced physiological or psychological conditions of the human speakers by associating the deduced physiological or psychological conditions of the human speakers with geographical locations thereof.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/459,274, filed on Apr. 30, 2012 and entitled “Deriving GeographicDistribution of Physiological or Psychological Conditions of HumanSpeakers While Preserving Personal Privacy,” now U.S. Pat. No.8,498,869, issued on Jul. 30, 2013, which is a continuation applicationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/569,921, filed on Sep. 30, 2009and entitled “Deriving Geographic Distribution of Physiological orPsychological Conditions of Human Speakers While Preserving PersonalPrivacy,” now U.S. Pat. No. 8,200,480 and issued Jun. 12, 2012. BothU.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/459,274 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,200,480are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of geographical data analysisand more particularly, to a geographically based analysis of humanspeech.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Certain physiological and psychological conditions are known to affecthuman speech. For example, a nasal voice can indicate a nasal congestionor blockage of the nasal passages often resulting from cold orinfluenza. Coughs of different kinds may indicate a variety ofrespiratory related diseases. Similarly, changes in prosody such as therhythm, stress, and intonation of speech may provide informationregarding the psychological condition of the speaker.

With global monitoring of public health being an ongoing challenge,there have been several attempts to use speech analysis for derivingvaluable information regarding the health of human speakers from theirrespective speech signals. Such attempts are known to suggest the use ofspeech analysis in order to deduce the physiological or psychologicalcondition of a human speaker either by detecting particular keywordsindicating a specific condition, or by studying the relations betweenspeech signal characteristics and various mental and physicalconditions.

BRIEF SUMMARY

One aspect of the invention provides a method comprising: obtaining, viaa plurality of communication devices, a plurality of speech signalsrespectively associated with human speakers, the speech signalsincluding verbal components and non-verbal components; identifying aplurality of geographical locations, each geographic location associatedwith a respective one of the plurality of the communication devices;extracting the non-verbal components from the obtained speech signals;deducing physiological or psychological conditions of the human speakersby analyzing, over a specified period, the extracted non-verbalcomponents, using predefined relations between characteristics of thenon-verbal components and physiological or psychological conditions ofthe human speakers; and providing a geographical distribution of thededuced physiological or psychological conditions of the human speakersby associating the deduced physiological or psychological conditions ofthe human speakers with the geographical locations thereof.

Another aspect of the invention provides a system that comprises aserver; and a plurality of communication devices in communication withthe server, wherein the server is arranged to: obtain, via the pluralityof communication devices, a plurality of speech signals respectivelyassociated with human speakers, the speech signals including verbalcomponents and non-verbal components; identify a plurality ofgeographical locations, each geographic location associated with arespective one of the plurality of the communication devices; extractthe non-verbal components from the obtained speech signals; deducephysiological or psychological conditions of the human speakers byanalyzing, over a specified period, the extracted non-verbal components,using predefined relations between characteristics of the non-verbalcomponents and physiological or psychological conditions of the humanspeakers; and provide a geographical distribution of the deducedphysiological or psychological conditions of the human speakers byassociating the deduced physiological or psychological conditions of thehuman speakers with the geographical locations thereof.

Yet another aspect of the invention provides a server that comprises: acommunication module arranged to obtain, via a plurality ofcommunication devices, a plurality of speech signals respectivelyassociated with human speakers, the speech signals including verbalcomponents and non-verbal components; a location module arranged toidentify a plurality of geographical locations, each geographic locationassociated with a respective one of the plurality of the communicationdevices; an extraction module arranged to extract the non-verbalcomponents from the obtained speech signals; an analysis module arrangedto deduce physiological or psychological conditions of the humanspeakers by analyzing, over a specified period, the extracted non-verbalcomponents, using predefined relations between characteristics of thenon-verbal components and physiological or psychological conditions ofthe human speakers; and an association module arranged to provide ageographical distribution of the deduced physiological or psychologicalconditions of the human speakers by associating the deducedphysiological or psychological conditions of the human speakers withgeographical locations thereof.

These, additional, and/or other aspects and/or advantages of the presentinvention are set forth in the detailed description which follows;possibly inferable from the detailed description; and/or learnable bypractice of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same maybe carried into effect, reference will now be made, purely by way ofexample, to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals designatecorresponding elements or sections throughout.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a high level flowchart illustrating a method according to someembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a high level flowchart illustrating a method according to someembodiments of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a high level flowchart illustrating optional features of amethod according to some embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a high level schematic block diagram of a system according tosome embodiments of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a high level schematic block diagram of a server according tosome embodiments of the invention.

The drawings together with the following detailed description makeapparent to those skilled in the art how the invention may be embodiedin practice.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Prior to setting forth the detailed description, it may be helpful toset forth definitions of certain terms that will be used hereinafter.

The term “communication device” as used herein in this application, isdefined as any device that enables at least audio communication betweenat least one human speaker and another. Such devices usually include amicrophone, a speaker, an audio processing circuitry and a communicationmodule enabling the transmitting and receiving of the speech signals(either over wire-line or wireless). Such devices include, for example,wire-line phones, cellular phones, Personal Device Accessories (PDAs);and personal computers enabling Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)sessions.

The term “non-verbal components” as used herein in this application inthe context of speech signals are defined as speech components that arenot included in the spoken language (and therefore the content) used bya human speaker. Non-verbal components may include, but are not limitedto: coughs, laughs, hiccups, breathing, nasal voice, prosodiccharacteristics and the like.

With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressedthat the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes ofillustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention only, and are presented in the cause of providing what isbelieved to be the most useful and readily understood description of theprinciples and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, noattempt is made to show structural details of the invention in moredetail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of theinvention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent tothose skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may beembodied in practice.

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, itis to be understood that the invention is not limited in its applicationto the details of construction and the arrangement of the components setforth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. Theinvention is applicable to other embodiments or of being practiced orcarried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that thephraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose ofdescription and should not be regarded as limiting.

FIG. 1 is a high level flow chart showing a method according to someembodiments of the invention. The method comprises: obtaining, via aplurality of communication devices associated with a plurality of humanspeakers, a plurality of speech signals associated with the humanspeakers, wherein the speech signals include verbal components andnon-verbal components 110; obtaining a plurality of geographicallocations associated with the plurality of the communication devices120; extracting, from the obtained speech signals, the non-verbalcomponents 130; analyzing, over a predefined period of time, theextracted non-verbal components, using predefined relations betweencharacteristics of the non-verbal components of the speech signals andphysiological or psychological conditions of the human speakersassociated with the speech signals, thereby deducing the physiologicalor psychological conditions of the human speakers 140; and associatingthe deduced physiological or psychological conditions of the humanspeakers with the geographical locations thereof, thereby providing ageographical distribution of the deduced physiological or psychologicalconditions of the human speakers 150.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the physiological or thepsychological conditions of the human speakers are associated with thehuman speakers' respiratory system. A variety of speech relatedsymptoms, such as coughs, nasal voice and heavy breathing may beclassified beforehand and used to deduce the particular respiratorysystem related condition for a given speech signal.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the predefined relationsbetween the characteristics of the non-verbal components of the speechsignals and the physiological or the psychological conditions of thehuman speakers are associated with effects of a particular healthcondition of a human speaker on the non-verbal components of a speechsignal associated with the human speaker. These relations may begathered from a predefined database in which particular non-verbalcomponents are classified in view of their corresponding physiologicalor the psychological conditions. Alternatively, the relations are in theform of a learning decision function that is being updated during usage.

FIG. 2 is a high level flow chart showing a method according to someembodiment of the invention. The method comprises: applying ade-identifying function on speech signals obtained from a plurality ofcommunication devices associated with a plurality of human speakers,rendering the verbal components unidentifiable 210; obtaining, thespeech signals, wherein the speech signals include verbal components andnon-verbal components and in which the verbal components areunidentifiable 220; obtaining a plurality of geographical locationsassociated with the plurality of the communication devices 230;extracting, from the obtained speech signals, the non-verbal components240; analyzing, over a predefined period of time, the extractednon-verbal components, using predefined relations betweencharacteristics of the non-verbal components of the speech signals andphysiological or psychological conditions of the human speakersassociated with the speech signals, thereby deducing the physiologicalor psychological conditions of the human speaker 250; and associatingthe deduced physiological or psychological conditions of the humanspeakers with the geographical locations thereof, thereby providing ageographical distribution of the deduced physiological or psychologicalconditions of the human speakers 260.

FIG. 3 is a high level flow chart showing optional features according tosome embodiment of the invention.

According to some embodiments of the invention, extracting of thenon-verbal components is performed such that verbal content associatedwith the speech signals becomes unidentifiable. Advantageously, none ofthe original verbal components may be reconstructed from the extractednon-verbal components. The de-identification of the speech signal may beachieved by various ways. For example, the method may comprise applyinga time-domain scrambling algorithm on the speech signals whilemaintaining sufficient non-verbal components for deducing thephysiological or psychological condition of the human speaker, therebypreserving privacy of the human speakers 310. Alternatively, the methodmay comprise applying predefined time-domain windowing orfrequency-domain filtering on the speech signals resulting in partialspeech signals while maintaining sufficient non-verbal components fordeducing the physiological or psychological condition of the humanspeaker, thereby preserving privacy of the human speakers 320.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the method furthercomprises outputting the geographical distribution of the human speakersand their corresponding physiological or psychological conditions 330.The output may be in the form of a report (either textual or visual) oron any type of display enabling visual representation in the form ofGeographic Indicator System (GIS) maps that help visualize tempo-spatialinformation. The output may be also in the form of an alarm, if certainpredefined criteria are met.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the method furthercomprises associating of the deduced physiological or psychologicalconditions of the human speakers with the geographical locationsthereof, is performed in at least two time-defined instances, therebypresenting a historical geographical distribution, by presenting achange of the physiological or psychological conditions of the humanspeakers, over the two time-defined instances, in view of thegeographical locations thereof 340. Changes over time may be shown, forexamples, on vector maps that show directions of propagation of adisease or more specifically, the direction of a population that hasbeen identified as having a particular predefined physiologicalcondition.

FIG. 4 is a high level schematic block diagram of a system according tosome embodiments of the invention. The system comprises a server 400 anda plurality of communication devices 410A-410F associated with aplurality of human speakers (not shown). Communication devices 410A-410Fmay be operable, by way of example, over a communication network, suchas a cellular communication network comprising base stations 420A and420B connected to mobile operator network 430, which in turn is coupledto server 400.

Server 400 may access data retrieved by mobile operator network 430.Specifically, server 400 is arranged to obtain from communicationdevices, 410A-410F a plurality of speech signals associated with thehuman speakers, wherein the speech signals include verbal components andnon-verbal components. Server 400 is further arranged to obtain, forexample via mobile operator network 430, a plurality of geographicallocations associated with communication devices 410A-410F. Server 400 isfurther arranged to extract, from the obtained speech signals, thenon-verbal components of the signals. Server 400 is further arranged toanalyze the extracted non-verbal components, using predefined relationsbetween characteristics of the non-verbal components of the speechsignals and physiological or psychological conditions of the humanspeakers associated with the speech signals, thereby deducing thephysiological conditions of the human speakers. Server 400 is furtherarranged to associate the deduced physiological conditions of the humanspeakers with the geographical locations thereof, thereby providing ageographical distribution of the deduced physiological or psychologicalconditions of the human speakers.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the system furthercomprises a de-identifying module 440 connected between server 400 andmobile operator network 430. De-identifying module 440 is operableindependently of server 400 and is arranged to apply a de-identifyingfunction on the speech signals, prior to server 400 obtaining thereof,rendering the verbal components unidentifiable. Advantageously,configuring de-identifying module 440 as a module independent of server400 provides better preservation of privacy as server 400 cannot accessidentifiable speech signals.

Server 400, may be in the form of a computer comprising, in someembodiments, a processor 450 and a storage module 460. Generally, aprocessor will receive instructions and data from a read-only memory ora random access memory or both. The essential elements of a computer area processor for executing instructions and one or more memories forstoring instructions and data. Generally, a computer will also include,or be operatively coupled to communicate with, one or more mass storagedevices for storing data files. Storage modules suitable for tangiblyembodying computer program instructions and data include all forms ofnon-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductor memorydevices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flash memory devices and alsomagneto-optic storage devices.

According to some embodiments of the invention, server 400 is furtherarranged to extract non-verbal components from the speech signals suchthat verbal content associated with the speech signals becomesunidentifiable. This embodiment is advantageous in case server 400 isconfigured to be operable as a standalone system or in order to furtherincrease personal privacy.

According to some embodiments of the invention, server 400 is furtherarranged to apply predefined time-domain windowing or frequency-domainfiltering on the speech signals resulting in partial speech signalswhile maintaining sufficient non-verbal components for deducing thephysiological or psychological condition of the human speaker, therebypreserving privacy of the human speakers.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the physiological or thepsychological conditions of the human speakers are associated with thehuman speakers' respiratory system.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the predefined relationsbetween the characteristics of the non-verbal components of the speechsignals and the physiological or the psychological conditions of thehuman speakers are associated with effects of a particular healthcondition of a human speaker on the non-verbal components of a speechsignal associated with the human speaker.

According to some embodiments of the invention, server 400 is arrangedto associate the deduced physiological or psychological conditions ofthe human speakers with the geographical locations thereof, in at leasttwo time-defined instances, thereby presenting a historical geographicaldistribution, by presenting a change of the physiological orpsychological conditions of the human speakers, over the twotime-defined instances, in view of the geographical locations thereof.

FIG. 5 is a high level schematic block diagram of a server according tosome embodiments of the invention. Server 400, is in communication, viaa communication network 580, with a plurality of communication devices570A-570C that are associated with a plurality of human speakers (notshown). Server 400 comprises a communication module 510 arranged toobtain, from communication devices 570A-570C, a plurality of speechsignals associated with the human speakers, wherein the speech signalsinclude verbal components and non-verbal components. Server 400 furthercomprises a location module 520 coupled to communication network 580 andarranged to obtain a plurality of geographical locations associated withcommunication devices 570A-570C. Server 400 further comprises anextraction module 530 coupled to communication module 510 and arrangedto extract, from the obtained speech signals, the non-verbal components.Server 400 further comprises an analysis module 540 coupled toextraction module 530 and arranged to analyze the extracted non-verbalcomponents, using predefined relations between characteristics of thenon-verbal components of the speech signals and physiological orpsychological conditions of the human speakers associated with thespeech signals, thereby deducing the physiological or psychologicalconditions of the human speakers. Server 400 may further comprise anassociation module 550 coupled to both location module 520 and analysismodule 540. Association module 550 may be arranged to associate thededuced physiological or psychological conditions of the human speakerswith the geographical locations thereof, thereby providing ageographical distribution of the deduced physiological or psychologicalconditions of the human speakers.

According to some embodiments of the invention, server 400 furthercomprises an output module 560 arranged to output the geographicaldistribution of the human speakers and their corresponding physiologicalor psychological conditions.

According to some embodiments of the invention, extraction module 530 is10 further arranged to extract non-verbal components from the speechsignals such that verbal content associated with the speech signalsbecomes unidentifiable.

According to some embodiments of the invention, communication module 510is arranged to apply a time-domain scrambling algorithm on the speechsignals while maintaining sufficient non-verbal components for deducingthe physiological or psychological condition of the human speaker,thereby preserving privacy of the human speakers.

According to some embodiments of the invention, communication module 510is arranged to apply predefined time-domain windowing orfrequency-domain filtering on the speech signals resulting in partialspeech signals while maintaining sufficient non-verbal components fordeducing the physiological or psychological condition of the humanspeaker, thereby preserving privacy of the human speakers.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the physiological or thepsychological conditions of the human speakers are associated with thehuman speakers' respiratory system.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the predefined relationsbetween the characteristics of the non-verbal components of the speechsignals and the physiological or the psychological conditions of thehuman speakers are associated with effects of a particular healthcondition of a human speaker on the non-verbal components of a speechsignal associated with the human speaker.

According to some embodiments of the invention, association module 550is arranged to associate the deduced physiological or psychologicalconditions of the human speakers with the geographical locationsthereof, in at least two time-defined instances, thereby presenting ahistorical geographical distribution, by presenting a change of thephysiological or psychological conditions of the human speakers, betweenthe two time-defined instances, in view of the geographical locationsthereof.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The aforementioned flowchart and block diagrams illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

In the above description, an embodiment is an example or implementationof the inventions. The various appearances of “one embodiment,” “anembodiment” or “some embodiments” do not necessarily all refer to thesame embodiments.

Although various features of the invention may be described in thecontext of a single embodiment, the features may also be providedseparately or in any suitable combination. Conversely, although theinvention may be described herein in the context of separate embodimentsfor clarity, the invention may also be implemented in a singleembodiment.

Reference in the specification to “some embodiments,” “an embodiment,”“one embodiment” or “other embodiments” means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiments is included in at least some embodiments, but notnecessarily all embodiments, of the inventions.

It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employedherein is not to be construed as limiting and are for descriptivepurpose only.

The principles and uses of the teachings of the present invention may bebetter understood with reference to the accompanying description,figures and examples.

It is to be understood that the details set forth herein do not construea limitation to an application of the invention.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention can be carriedout or practiced in various ways and that the invention can beimplemented in embodiments other than the ones outlined in thedescription above.

It is to be understood that the terms “including,” “comprising,”“consisting” and grammatical variants thereof do not preclude theaddition of one or more components, features, steps, or integers orgroups thereof and that the terms are to be construed as specifyingcomponents, features, steps or integers.

If the specification or claims refer to “an additional” element, thatdoes not preclude there being more than one of the additional element.

It is to be understood that where the claims or specification refer to“a” or “an” element, such reference is not be construed that there isonly one of that element.

It is to be understood that where the specification states that acomponent, feature, structure, or characteristic “may,” “might,” “can”or “could” be included, that particular component, feature, structure,or characteristic is not required to be included.

Where applicable, although state diagrams, flow diagrams or both may beused to describe embodiments, the invention is not limited to thosediagrams or to the corresponding descriptions. For example, flow neednot move through each illustrated box or state, or in exactly the sameorder as illustrated and described.

Methods of the present invention may be implemented by performing orcompleting manually, automatically, or a combination thereof, selectedsteps or tasks.

The term “method” may refer to manners, means, techniques and proceduresfor accomplishing a given task including, but not limited to, thosemanners, means, techniques and procedures either known to, or readilydeveloped from known manners, means, techniques and procedures bypractitioners of the art to which the invention belongs.

The descriptions, examples, methods and materials presented in theclaims and the specification are not to be construed as limiting butrather as illustrative only.

Meanings of technical and scientific terms used herein are to becommonly understood as by one of ordinary skill in the art to which theinvention belongs, unless otherwise defined.

The present invention may be implemented in the testing or practice withmethods and materials equivalent or similar to those described herein.

Any publications, including patents, patent applications and articles,referenced or mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated intheir entirety into the specification, to the same extent as if eachindividual publication was specifically and individually indicated to beincorporated herein. In addition, citation or identification of anyreference in the description of some embodiments of the invention shallnot be construed as an admission that such reference is available asprior art to the present invention.

While the invention has been described with respect to a limited numberof embodiments, these should not be construed as limitations on thescope of the invention, but rather as exemplifications of some of thepreferred embodiments. Other possible variations, modifications, andapplications are also within the scope of the invention. Accordingly,the scope of the invention should not be limited by what has thus farbeen described, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: for each speech signal of aplurality of speech signals: obtaining, by a computer, non-verbalcomponents of the speech signal and a geographical location associatedwith the speech signal, the speech signal having been de-identified;deducing, by the computer, a physiological and/or psychologicalcondition corresponding to the non-verbal components; and associatingthe deduced physiological and/or psychological condition with therespective geographical location of the obtained speech signal, therebyproviding a geographical distribution of the physiological and/orpsychological conditions.
 2. The method according to claim 1, whereindeducing further comprises using, at least in part, characteristics ofthe non-verbal components of the speech signal and/or informationrelating to physiological and/or psychological conditions of humanspeakers.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein deducing comprisesevaluating information that specifies relationships between thecharacteristics of the non-verbal components of the speech signal andthe physiological and/or the psychological condition of a human speakerassociated with the speech signal.
 4. The method according to claim 1,further comprising outputting the geographical distribution of thephysiological and/or psychological conditions and of human speakersassociated with the physiological and/or psychological conditions atleast by outputting an alarm if at least one criterion is met.
 5. Themethod according to claim 2, further comprising outputting thegeographical distribution of the physiological and/or psychologicalconditions and of human speakers associated with the physiologicaland/or psychological conditions.
 6. The method according to claim 1,wherein obtaining is performed for each speech signal of the pluralityof speech signals in at least two time-defined instances, therebypresenting a historical geographical distribution, by presenting, foreach speech signal of the plurality of speech signals, a change of thededuced physiological and/or psychological condition, over the at leasttwo time-defined instances, in view of the geographical locationthereof.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein obtaining furthercomprises obtaining the speech signal and extracting the non-verbalcomponents from the speech signal, by the computer.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the speech signal having beende-identified comprises the speech signal having underwent time-domainscrambling and/or frequency-domain filtering.
 9. The method according toclaim 1, wherein obtaining further comprises obtaining the geographicallocation from at least one telephone communication network.
 10. A systemcomprising: a computer configured to, for each speech signal of aplurality of speech signals: obtain non-verbal components of the speechsignal and a geographical location associated with the speech signal,the speech signal having been de-identified; deduce a physiologicaland/or psychological condition corresponding to the non-verbalcomponents; and associate the deduced physiological and/or psychologicalcondition with the respective geographical location of the obtainedspeech signal, thereby providing a geographical distribution of thephysiological and/or psychological conditions.
 11. The system accordingto claim 10, wherein the computer is further configured to obtain thegeographical location and the speech signal from at least onecommunication network.
 12. The system according to claim 10, wherein thecomputer is further configured to deduce the physiological and/or thepsychological condition based, at least in part, on information abouthuman respiratory systems.
 13. The system according to claim 10, whereinthe computer is further configured to associate characteristics of thenon-verbal components of the speech signal and the physiological and/orthe psychological condition with effects of a particular healthcondition of a human speaker on the non-verbal components of a speechsignal associated with the human speaker.
 14. The system according toclaim 10, wherein the computer is further configured to, for each speechsignal of the plurality of speech signals, associate the deducedphysiological and/or psychological condition with the geographicallocation in at least two time-defined instances, and thereby to presenta historical geographical distribution, by presenting, for each speechsignal of the plurality of speech signals, a change of the physiologicaland/or psychological condition, over the at least two time-definedinstances, in view of the geographical location thereof.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructionsthat, when executed by a processor, perform a method comprising: foreach speech signal of a plurality of speech signals: obtainingnon-verbal components of the speech signal and a geographical locationassociated with the speech signal, the speech signal having beende-identified; deducing a physiological and/or psychological conditioncorresponding to the non-verbal components; and associating the deducedphysiological and/or psychological condition with the respectivegeographical location of the obtained speech, thereby providing ageographical distribution of the physiological and/or psychologicalconditions.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumaccording to claim 15, wherein the method further comprises deducing, atleast in part, characteristics of the non-verbal components of thespeech signal and/or information relating to physiological and/orpsychological conditions of human speakers.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 16, wherein themethod further comprises associating the characteristics of thenon-verbal components of the speech signal and the physiological and/orthe psychological condition with effects of a particular healthcondition of a human speaker on the non-verbal components of a speechsignal associated with the human speaker.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium according to claim 15, wherein themethod further comprises outputting the geographical distribution of thephysiological and/or psychological conditions and of human speakersassociated with the physiological and/or psychological conditions. 19.The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim15, wherein the method further comprises obtaining, for each speechsignal of the plurality of speech signals, the speech signal in at leasttwo time-defined instances, the thereby presenting a historicalgeographical distribution, by presenting, for each speech signal of theplurality of speech signals, a change of the deduced physiologicaland/or psychological condition, over the at least two time-definedinstances, in view of the geographical location thereof.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 15,wherein the method further comprises obtaining the geographical locationfrom at least one telephone communication network.